Nothing to Celebrate
by Sumire06
Summary: One of Arisa's least favorite holidays- Mother's Day.


**[Author Comments: I wrote this basically on a whim for Mother's Day last year. I happen to roleplay Arisa on tumblr, and I kept seeing my friends posting little drabbles for the holiday around the characters _they_ roleplay, and I wanted to join in. That's basically it.]**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Arisa Uotani, Tohru Honda, Saki Hanajima or Fruits Basket. They are all the sole property of Natsuki Takaya, the creator. I just own the plot of this drabble.**

* * *

It was a terrible day to get on Arisa's bad side. True, the sun was shining brightly, the sky was bright blue, and the little critters around the city were chattering together and running about, but that was just a cover for the real meaning behind the day. It was that reason alone that the bleached blond was in such a foul mood, though she had to do her best to hide it for the customers.

_Mother's Day._

The one day in the year a child was supposed to show their appreciation for their mother for all the things she did for them the rest of the year. But to the ones who knew Arisa, they knew that she _had_ no mother. At least, not physically in the home she lived, anyway. Her mother had run out on her and her drunk of a father when the girl was young.

What was Arisa supposed to be appreciative about that? It had been nearly ten years since she'd heard from and seen her mother last. So even if she had certain choice words for that mother of hers, there was no way Arisa could tell her so.

The day went by rather slowly and as it did, the former yankee rung up dozens of excited children with their smiling mothers, something that didn't help her own sour mood. During her break, she stepped out of the stuffy store in the back and crouched against the wall, tilting her head up to stare blankly at the sky as puffy clouds lazily rolled by.

What would her life be, had her mother stayed instead of leaving? Would Arisa have ever gotten in as much trouble as she did in school? Would she had even joined The Ladies in middle school? It was hard to tell, but it was those kind of questions that ran through the ex-yankee's mind. But of course, none of them had an answer.

With a heavy sigh, the girl stood and stretched her legs out before they could go completely to sleep and headed back in to continue her double shift. The rest of the day went by slowly still, and she was almost in a daze, her sour mood beginning to drain until she felt almost nothing; no anger, no sadness. Arisa just felt empty. Some would say she was envious or jealous of the fact that she had no mother to celebrate with, but it was sort of difficult to feel that when she had no happy memories of previous Mother's Days to go by, wasn't it? Arisa simply wanted the day to be over with and go home. Her father was more than likely at some bar, drinking himself into a stupor like always.

Finally, it was ten-thirty, time for the store to close. After getting the last few customers rang up, Arisa cleaned up a bit and then bid farewell to her co-workers and left the shop, ready for another evening by herself in her apartment.

"Ah; Uo!"

Surprised, the blond turned her head and grey-green eyes widened at the sight of Tohru and Saki, standing and smiling brightly at the blond. Arisa made her way to them, puzzled at their appearance there.

"Hey guys," she greeted them, a smile tugging onto her lips- the first real one of the day. "It's a bit late, don'cha think? Why aren'cha at home or somethin'?" she asked, curious.

Tohru giggled while Saki gave a light smile of her own, silent. "Well, we knew you were working today, so Hana and I went to Mom's grave and said hi to her. And then Hana's parents invited you and I for a late Mother's Day dinner at her house!"

It was delayed, a few seconds at least, but soon, a wide grin came to Arisa's face, brightening her gloomy face instantly. She chuckled and stepped closer, slinging her arms around her friend's necks, pulling them in for a tight hug.

"Sounds like a blast! Le's go, then, if we're goin'!" she exclaimed, ignoring the tears forming in the corners of eyes, unseen to Tohru and Saki.

If there was actually just one thing Arisa was glad her mother had done, it would have been running off in the end. Otherwise, she would never have met the best friends she had right now. And there nothing else she would rather have.


End file.
